Sunday, 3 May 2015

F1 drivers make headlines in the World Endurance Champion

(Sahara Force India Formula One Team)

The World Endurance Championship were in Belgium on Saturday
for the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps race, the second event on the 2015 WEC
schedule.

A number of past and current Formula One drivers were in the
field for the event. Former Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber finished on the
podium for Porsche who he joined last season when the German manufacturer
entered the sport with a Porsche 919 Hybrid.

The Australian was joined at Porsche this weekend by current
Sahara Force India Formula One Team driver Nico Hulkenberg who start the race from
P3 in a third Porsche 919 Hybrid. It was the first time since they entered the
sport that the Porsche ran three 919’s in the LMP1 class. Hulkenberg went on to
finish the event in a strong sixth place and will now shift his focus to next
weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix before returning to Porsche for the LeMans 24
Hours next month.

Webber and Hulkenberg weren’t the only drivers in the field
associated with Formula One. Reigning WEC champion, Toyota’s Anthony Davidson
is still heavily involved in Formula One with the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team
as a test driver.

Davidson’s team mate Sebastien Buemi was part of the Red
Bull young driver programme and raced for the Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One
Team. Porsche LMP1 driver Neel Jani drove for the Scuderia Toro Rosso Team as a
test driver in 2006, while Andre Lotterer drove for the Caterham F1 Team at the
2014 Belgian Grand Prix.

This would prove that the World Endurance Championship is a
the leading alternative to Formula One and it is great to see that Nico
Hulkenberg has been allowed to compete with Porsche alongside his Formula One
commitments with the Sahara Force India Formula One Team.